Thanks to several thoughtful readers who have alerted me to the dangers of 50-year-old paint chips, which likely contain lead.

Since no member of my household has so far evinced any desire to actually eat the stuff I am power-washing from my garage, I am not going to worry too much about this.

It’s a thing that some other reader faced with the same job, but with small children around, might want to think about, though. Here are a few helpful articles passed on by a reader (the third one is a .pdf).